The Truth Behind Sexual Assault

By Kasey Pfleging

May 20th, 2018 - Greenville, New York Features

   

Recently, there have been more and more issues on the news about sexual assault. Because of this, an increasing number of questions have arisen. Questions like, “Are that many people really assaulted?”, “Can we trust the women who say that they’ve been assaulted?”, and “Why don’t the assaulted women come forward?” These things have made me want to learn more about the topic. After researching about sexual assault I’ve come to the conclusion that sexual assault is a big problem in the United States, for many reasons. Sexual assault is rarely adjudicated correctly, disproportionally affects certain groups of people, and the percentage of false accusations is low.

The judicial system regarding sexual assault is very flawed. According to a study from the Department of Justice, “out of every 1,000 rapes, 994 perpetrators will walk free” (National Crime Victimization Survey). That is one of many reasons that victims choose not to report their assaults. 13% of victims don’t report their assaults because they believe that the police would not do anything to help and 2% didn’t report because they believed that the police would not be able to help (Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics). Also, rape kits cost $400-$1500 to be tested and, because of the Violence Against Women Act, a victim should never have to pay for theirs to be tested but some states “have loopholes that force survivors to do just that” (30 Alarming Statistics That Show The Reality Of Sexual Violence In America by Alanna Vagianos). There are many issues with the judicial system regarding sexual violence.

Certain groups of people are affected more greatly by sexual assault than other groups of people. People such as transgenders are at higher risk of sexual assault. 21% of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) college students have been sexually assaulted while only 18% of non-trans females and 8% of non-trans males have been (Association of American Universities (AAU), Report on the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct). Another group of people at higher risk of sexual assault are American Indians. They are twice as likely to experience rape or sexual assault than any other race (Department of Justice, American Indian Crime). “People with intellectual disabilities...are the victims of sexual assaults at rates more than seven times those for people without disabilities.” (The Sexual Assault Epidemic No One Talks About by Joseph Shapiro). That statistic was found by NPR in unpublished Justice Department data on sex crimes. Groups of people like American Indians, transgenders, and disabled people are at higher risk of sexual assault.

False accusations regarding sexual assault are very rare. Studies show that false reporting only happens between 2% and 8% of the time. A study of 2,059 cases of sexual assault in eight U.S. communities found a 7.1% rate of sexual assaults (Lonsway, Archambault, & Lisak, 2009). Another study of 812 reports of sexual assault from 2002-2003 found a 2.1% rate of false reports  (Heenan & Murray 2006). Research shows that rates of false reports are often inflated because of a weak understanding of sexual assault and inconsistent protocol and definitions (Lisak et al., 2010). The rate of false reporting, between 2% and 8%, is the same as the rate of false reporting for other felonies (Lonsway, K., Archambault, J., & Lisak, D., 2009).

Some people will say that sexual assault isn’t a big problem in the United States. They will say that it’s not a problem because it has fallen at a rate of 63% since 1993 (Department of Justice,  National Crime Victimization Survey, 2010-2014). Though the rate has fallen 63% there are still, on average, 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. That number means that there is another American assaulted every 98 seconds. Though we have made great improvements, we still have a long way to go.

There are many reasons that sexual assault is an issue in the United States. One reason sexual assault is a problem is that the judicial system is very flawed in the way it deals with the crime. Another reason is that it disproportionately affects certain groups of people more than other groups. Also, the rate of false reporting about sexual assault is very low.  This is not a problem that we have or can adjudicate our way out of, but we can start to develop a culture that is more aware of the size of the issue, and that we need to teach people, starting at a young age, about this topic, and what consent means.